


Destiny

by cmk418



Series: River the Vampire Slayer [1]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-01
Updated: 2008-09-01
Packaged: 2019-03-01 17:29:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13299717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmk418/pseuds/cmk418
Summary: Willow's spell to activate potentials didn't end





	Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the August 2008 Rayne Shippers Challenge Fairytales/Myths/Legends for the prompt _Into every generation, a Slayer is born..._

“There’s something down there,” stated Wash.

“We’re not going to make it any further, Captain. Serenity needs her rest. Least til I can get her cooled down enough.”

“You know what that is, doncha? That’s Lestat.”

“Lestat’s a myth. Something that parents threaten their children with to get them to sleep at night. My parents threatened me repeatedly with trips to Lestat as a child,” remarked Zoe.

“Really? You?” Wash gave her a warm smile.

“Lestat is quite real. An Alliance-established prison colony where the worst of the worst are sent and never heard from again,” Book said.

“Bad as Reavers if you ask me. You expect us to go down there with those worst of the worst?”

“We’re just docking. No one has to get off ship if they don’t want to.”

“Ah, honey, it’s perfect. We can take a walk in the moonlight or… a walk in the moonlight.”

Jayne fixed his eyes on River. Crazy girl looked crazier than usual. Bent over, hand on her stomach. Probably her woman-time. Shouldn’t go agitatin’ her then. Something tickled at the edges of his brain. Something that had been programmed in by his father – words handed down through the ages –

_Into each generation a Slayer is born_

“One girl in all the world,” continued River, staring at him wide-eyed.

 _Gorrammit!_ He thought about her Alliance training, her ability to fight, to use a weapon. What if these hadn’t been trained at all, but something in her had activated? He needed to think.

“No time for that,” River said, following him into his bunk. “We’re touching down in less than twenty minutes.” 

“You’ll need a weapon.”

“No touching guns.”

“These things don’t respond to guns. You should know that.”

“And how would I know?”

“Cause of who ya are, Crazy. Back on Earth-that-Was before the time of the Slayers, there was Buffy.”

“The amusing protagonist of a long-running television series on Earth-that-Was. I’ve seen a few pieces on the Cortex.”

“Actually, this is a little-known fact but it was actually the most successful reality show that was ever broadcast.”

“Reality. So the vampires and demons were all real, and not just things that go bump in the night?”

“Very real.” Jayne fished out a bag under his bed and handed it to River. “Hold this.” He continued his story. “So, back in Buffy’s day, real big evil was brewing. In fact, the source of all evil was about to take over Earth-that Was, so Buffy’s witch friend Willow did a spell that woke up all the girls that could ever have been called as Slayers. And it kept going even after Earth didn’t exist anymore.”

“You’re insinuating that I am a Slayer.”

“No insinuation about it. Stating dead fact.”

“And what am I supposed to do with that information?”

“Nothing. You're supposed to do something with what’s in the bag.”

River opens the bag and pulls out a stake. “A pointy stick.”

“It’s a stake. You use it to kill vampires.” Jayne’s tone made it seem as if this was something she should already know.

“Vampires don’t exist. Not anymore.”

“They do on Lestat. They feed off the criminals that the Alliance drops here. But it ain’t just the worst of the worst, like Shepherd says – there’s political prisoners too - ordinary folk that spoke out once too often or committed acts of treason. Half the crew of Serenity could be vamp food by now. Hell, girlie, your brother even. Am I making myself clear?”

“Crystal. Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“Never ran into any vamps before. As far as I knew, they’d gone when Earth-that-Was went. Still, there were rumors from time to time, so my family kept the line of Watchers going. I didn’t think I’d realize my destiny, but here you are.”

“So you’re my sidekick.”

“I’m your Watcher, which means you have to obey me.”

River shot him a look and spun the stake around in her hand.

Jayne relented. “Fine. I’m your sidekick.”

“So how do I kill these things?”

“Stake through the heart, just like the storybook says.”

“And getting off board without Simon noticing?”

“We go when everybody’s asleep.”

She smiled at him then, bright as sunshine. “River, the Vampire Slayer. It has a nice ring to it.”

Later that night, the two climbed off the ship. River carried the bag of stakes and Jayne brought along a crossbow (for the vampires) and Vera (for the worst of the worst). 

Jayne was grabbed nearly immediately by a vamp in game face.

“Am I supposed to say something witty?”

“Just stake it,” grumbled Jayne as he struggled to evade the vamp’s fangs.

River slammed the stake through the vampire’s heart, sending it exploding into a shower of dust. “Impressive,” she muttered.

Jayne wiped vamp dust from his clothes. “I always heard that they done that, but I thought that was a myth.”

River crouched over, grabbing her stomach, then looked up. “Duck!”

Jayne hit the ground just as a vampire issued a death scream.

River helped him up. “Are you okay?”

“Gonna be one giant bruise in the morning if you keep that up.”

“Better than one dead Watcher, I say.”

“You sound like a Slayer.”

“That’s what I am. Two more, twenty paces to the right.”

Jayne picked them out in the darkness. “Got ‘em.” He loaded his crossbow and let fly. Soon there was one, staring dumbly at the space where the first used to be. Jayne reloaded and shot again. He turned and smiled at River. “That’s how it’s done, girlie.”

“May I see?” River asked. Jayne handed her the crossbow.

“You just line the arrow up there.” 

“Get down,” commanded River. Jayne sprawled on the ground, watching as River spun in a circle, firing and reloading the crossbow at an alarming speed. Arrows flew, hitting their marks as the canyons of Lestat echoed with continuous death screams. When all was said and done, River had sent fifty vampires back to hell.

“So, that’s how it’s done?”

“ _Wo de ma_ , Slayer. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you, Jayne,” she said as they began to walk back toward Serenity.

“For dragging you out here, exposing you to danger, and making you kill these things?”

“For calling me ‘Slayer’, for trusting me, and showing me my destiny. Not just crazy girl anymore.”

“No you ain’t.”

They reached the ship and climbed back on board. “Jayne?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we do this again tomorrow night?”

He grinned at her. “It’s our job, darlin’.”

“Time to raid the galley. I’m starving.”

“Well, hunger’s said to be one of the two symptoms of slaying.”

River paused outside the galley. “What’s the other one?”

A pained expression crossed Jayne’s face. “I’ll be in my bunk.”

“I bet you will, Watcher-mine,” River whispered, a soft smile forming on her lips. This was just the first step toward her destiny. She and Jayne had a lifetime to look forward to.


End file.
